So Jacob said to his family and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods that you have; purify yourselves and put on clean clothes.

and the LORD said to him, "Go to the people and tell them to spend today and tomorrow purifying themselves for worship. They must wash their clothes

and Moses told them, "Be ready by the day after tomorrow and don't have sexual intercourse in the meantime."

Get up! Purify the people and get them ready to come before me. Tell them to be ready tomorrow, because I, the LORD God of Israel, have this to say: 'Israel, you have in your possession some things that I ordered you to destroy! You cannot stand against your enemies until you get rid of these things!'

The people began to complain to the LORD about their troubles. When the LORD heard them, he became angry and sent fire on the people. It burned among them and destroyed one end of the camp.

There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: "If only we could have some meat!

But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat---nothing but this manna day after day!"

and said to them, "We wish that the LORD had killed us in Egypt. There we could at least sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death."

On the sixth day they are to bring in twice as much as usual and prepare it."

In the morning you will see the dazzling light of the LORD's presence. He has heard your complaints against him---yes, against him, because we are only carrying out his instructions."

So now the people of Israel went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of God until evening. Loudly and bitterly they mourned:

There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: "If only we could have some meat!

In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had?

They complained against Moses and Aaron, and said, "It would have been better to die in Egypt or even here in the wilderness!

Why is the LORD taking us into that land? We will be killed in battle, and our wives and children will be captured. Wouldn't it be better to go back to Egypt?"

"But our ancestors refused to obey him; they pushed him aside and wished that they could go back to Egypt.